_Tour_, volume iv of our series, note 175.--ED.
12th. At ten o'clock the wind obliged us to anchor a little above
Diamond island. We landed in Indiana, but found no cabins. The woods
mostly oak, sugar-maple, hiccory, with but little underwood; a few
hazels without nuts; we had seen but few hazels on the river or any
where else, except once near the mountains. Near mid-night, one of the
men and myself being up, we discovered something near us, which we took
for a log, and began pulling from it, when we found our mistake; it was
a bear swimming in the river; he came close to that part of the boat
where I was standing, and then made off up the river in great haste.
We could hear him blow in the water longer than we could see him. Made
this day 16 or 17 miles. We continued floating till near two o'clock,
when we stuck on the top of a fallen tree, and we were obliged to cut
off a bough before we could extricate the ark.
{128} 13th. Passed Straight island, and afterwards Slim island; near it
we saw a large flock of pelicans, perhaps near eighty; they were on a
sand bar; they were larger than a swan, and of a heavy appearance. Some
of us went on shore, in Indiana, and purchased some peaches, pompions,
and three fowls for 2_s._ 6_d._, which were paid for in English silver,
with which they seemed much pleased, saying they should keep it for a
curiosity. They said two little boys, a short time before, killed a
large bear in the river, with the paddles of their canoe, having first
almost drowned him by rowing round him. At seven o'clock we grounded
close to the Wabash island, one mile above the mouth of the Wabash,
after coming about 24 miles.
14th. At day-light we got off the sand-bar and passed the mouth of
the Wabash, a large river that separates the states of Indiana and
Illinois for many miles.[136] Having passed this river, we had Kentucky
on the left, and Illinois on the right. When we {129} reached Browns'
Island, five miles from the Wabash, and four from Shawneetown; the wind
obliged us to anchor on the left side, close to three large flat boats,
loaded with flour, bacon, whiskey, tobacco, horses, and pine and cherry
planks, for the Orleans' market. They had been 24 days from the falls
of Louisville to this place, owing to the state of the water. This day
we only came nine miles.
[136] For the Wabash River, see Croghan's _Journals_, volume i of our
series, note 107.--ED.
15th. In the morning we moved opposite to Shawneetown, and anchored
close to some rocks, amongst keel-boats, arks, &c., some of them for
sale. Many disembark here to go by land to Kaskaskia, and St. Louis,
on the Mississippi river; and some for the English settlement at the
Prairies. It is subject to floods, and that retards its growth. It is
the nearest inhabited spot below the mouth of the Wabash, and in the
neighbourhood of the United States Saline works, where about 300,000
bushels of salt are made annually. It is the county town of Gallittin,
and has a land office for the {130} sale of the government lands,
situated in the south east part of the state of the Illinois; extending
80 or 90 miles from the Ohio river towards the north; these united
causes draw many to it, and make it a brisk place. There is a bank
called the "Bank of Illinois," in good repute, many stores, and several
taverns; the principal one, the Steam-boat Hotel, kept by Mr. Hobson
from the north of England. There are about 80 houses, mostly of wood,
and a wooden jail. The situation of the town is handsome; but being
surrounded by low land, that is liable to be inundated, it is rather
unhealthy, at least it was so when we were there. We paid off our two
men, who soon hired themselves to go with a keel-boat to Nashville, in
Tennessee, 200 miles up the Cumberland.
16th. We still remained in our ark, but landed to get some beef, but
were too late except for the head and tongue, for which they charged
1_s._ 1½_d._; they killed three beasts the evening before, but all
the beef {131} was gone by seven o'clock in the morning; price from
three to four and a half cents a pound: the beasts young but not half
fat.
Having thus completed our second voyage in safety, we set out to look
for a conveyance to the English Prairie, but could not hear of any. I
forgot to mention, that, on the ninth of September, whilst I was on
shore, those in the ark were offered peaches at 25 cents per bushel, or
if they would take five bushels they should have them for a dollar.
17th. In the morning we agreed with Captain Hagan, master of a
keel-boat belonging to Vincennes, to take our luggage to the mouth
of the Bonpas, about 11 miles from the English Prairie; for the sum
of 37½ cents per hundred weight. He agreed to take it at 6000 lbs.
without weighing, which came to 5_l._ 1_s._ 3_d._ We could not agree
for a waggon to convey us to the Prairies, as I thought they demanded
too much.
We took a walk, and just above the town {132} saw a cypress swamp. The
cypress is a singular tree, having a great many conical knobs growing
round it, at some distance from the stem; they are called cypress
knees, and are sometimes used for pails and bee-hives. This tree, at a
distance, resembles the yew, but it is not an evergreen. The country
round not much settled.
18th. We purchased a few articles to take with us, as we understood
they were difficult to be procured at the Prairies; they consisted of
an iron oven, some articles of grocery, &c. Many of the store-keepers
were very obliging, but the boatmen the very reverse; a rough set of
men, much given to drinking whiskey, fighting, and gouging, that is,
they fight up and down, trying to put out each others eyes with their
fingers and thumbs, and sometimes biting off each others noses or ears.
A man, who resides near me, had the top of his nose bitten off, in one
of these brutal frays, some years since. This is their common manner of
fighting; but it is said that the neighbourhood {133} is improving in
buildings and manners.
19th. This was the Sabbath, but not much observed at Shawneetown,
there being no place of public worship. The Methodists sometimes hold
meetings in a private house, but they are not well attended. There was
much drinking and fighting, nor was work wholly laid aside, as we saw
several teams out.
20th. I sold our ark for 14 dollars, but gave our skiff in the bargain;
the purchaser was going to New Orleans, with fruit and vegetables.
21st. We removed our luggage from the ark, to Mr. Hagan's keel-boat.
Captain Hagan had been waiting for some salt from the Saline, but as it
did not arrive he would not wait any longer for it; as the water kept
falling, he was afraid he should not get up the Wabash if he staid much
longer. They went off at three o'clock with our luggage, and a small
quantity of salt. Mr. C. and my second son went {134} with them. They
took some provisions with them. The rest of us took our dinner and
supper at Mr. Hobson's hotel, and slept there. The next day we intended
to commence our journey on foot towards the Prairies, although the
news just received from thence was unfavourable, that of three deaths,
the wife of an Irish gentleman, and two Englishmen. Report said, much
sickness prevailed at the Prairies, but this we had heard all the way
from Wheeling, of most of the places in advance of us; but, except at
Shippingport and Shawneetown, we found none at any place we called
at. We, therefore, concluded this might be the case at the Prairies;
and, even should the report be correct, we should be no better off by
remaining where we were, as many of the inhabitants at Shawneetown were
ill.
22d. Having procured some directions from Mr. Hobson concerning our
road, at ten o'clock we commenced our journey; we first went through
some low rich land, {135} mostly woods. The country not much settled;
after walking 10 miles, we stopped at a cabin, and procured some water
to make us some tea; this we had brought with us. From this cabin
the soil not so good, and but few habitations. On the right of the
road there was a marsh; this, most probably, had formerly been the
bed of the Wabash. The heat being very great, and the road close, my
daughters were greatly fatigued, and their feet being very sore they
nearly gave out. In the evening we reached Robinson's or Boon's Mill,
otherwise Newhaven, 18 miles from Shawneetown. We found the people at
the tavern too ill to take in travellers, but we procured a lodging at
the mill. The master and mistress from home on account of ill health;
some servants were left at home to take care of the house and business;
however, we fared pretty well. Newhaven is situated on the Little,
and three miles from the Great Wabash. There is a grist and saw mill,
and another large one building, {136} but for what purpose I did not
learn; a tavern, and three or four other houses, comprise the whole of
the town. The situation is unhealthy, owing to the mills penning back
the water so much as to make it stagnant, the land being low between
Newhaven and the Great Wabash.
23d. We passed the Little Wabash on the mill dam, it was only a few
inches wide on the top, but slanting two or three feet to the water on
the upper side, and ten feet or more on the lower side to the water.
The water was low, and I did not much like crossing a river, near 100
yards wide, on so narrow a bridge; besides, some of the top was broken
away, and there we had to crawl on the slanting timber. But most of my
family did not appear to be alarmed. We proceeded slowly, my daughters'
feet being very tender. At noon we stopped at the Rev. Samuel Slacum's
to dinner; here we met four English and Scotch gentlemen, who had left
Shawneetown the afternoon before. After dinner {137} we proceeded with
them to the Big Prairies, 12 miles from Newhaven. At the entrance
of the Prairies we separated, there being too many of us to hope to
be accommodated at one tavern; we procured a lodging at the house
of Mr. Hamilton, in the middle of the Prairie. The Big Prairie is a
fine-looking place; and as we had been travelling generally surrounded
by woods, it looked pleasant to see an open plain, of several miles
extent in each direction. Just as we reached Mr. Hamilton's, I found a
small land tortoise of about five inches over; the shell was strong,
and beautifully clouded. I had never seen one before, or heard there
were any in America; but I have seen several since.
Mr. Hamilton had only Indian corn bread, and as we had not been
accustomed to it, we did not relish it; but he gave us some good fresh
pork, and we had every reason to speak well of our treatment. Mr.
Hamilton did not keep a tavern or boarding-house, but only occasionally
lodged {138} travellers. It is customary, when travelling in America,
to get a lodging at the first house we come to in an evening, for which
a charge, (generally a reasonable one,) is made. Mr. Hamilton informed
me, this Prairie had been settled eight or nine years; that the soil
was very fertile but unhealthy, being surrounded by ponds and swamps.
Warm, but no musquetoes.
24th. We arose before day-light, intending to go some distance to
breakfast, and to travel leisurely in the middle of the day. We went
two miles, through the Prairie, and joined the company we had parted
with the preceding evening, and proceeded to the house of Captain
Phillips, eight miles to breakfast. Our road was chiefly through
woods, and part of it lay through the Hurricane-track, that is where a
strong wind, some years back, opened a passage through the woods for
a mile in breadth, and some hundred of miles in length; I have heard,
from the upper part of the state of Ohio, to the Mississippi river,
or {139} beyond it. This Hurricane-track is a great harbour for wild
animals and game, as it keeps a large tract of country unoccupied. But
as the hunters generally set fire to the weeds, &c. in the autumn, many
of the trees are burnt; but, in other places, they lie on each other,
and mostly in one direction. Mr. Phillips is a native of Ireland, an
officer in the American service, a distiller of whiskey, a farmer,
and a cattle dealer. After breakfast our road lay through woods, the
country not much cultivated, to Mr. Paine's tavern at Bonpas, a place
of six or seven houses, a quarter of a mile from the Big Wabash. The
land fertile, and the timber extremely fine near the Bonpas; but much
of the land we had passed this day was of very middling quality. Walked
17 miles, the weather not so warm, and no mosquetoes. Here we were
informed, that the three deaths we had heard of at the Prairies all
proceeded from different causes, and not from any prevalent disorder
raging there.
{140} The town of Bonpas not likely to thrive, at least at present, as
Oxford is laid out about a mile from it, at the mouth of the Bonpas,
on the banks of the Big Wabash; and thus it is better situated for the
trade of the Wabash, and equally so for that of the country; for should
the Prairies ever be fully settled, their spare produce must find a
market by this river, and one of these towns is the only place they can
get to it.
25th. After breakfast we went on towards the Prairies; after walking
two miles we took the wrong road, being deceived by the marks on the
trees, viz. three notches, the road to Palmyra being marked the same.
We afterwards inquired and got into the right road; passing through
the woods we found many dwarf hazles, with vast quantities of nuts on
them; and we soon loaded ourselves with them. We called at a cabin,
and there found the gentlemen who had been our companions for the last
two days, but we left them there. Two {141} of them are since settled
in the English Prairie. About half a mile from the cabin we passed a
small Prairie, and soon entered the woods again, and then some barrens.
A barren is land nearly destitute of timber, but much overrun with
scrubby underwood. A great deal of the land we had passed from Bonpas
was good, and some of the timber very fine: I thought these barrens a
poor sample of the country. After passing these barrens for more than a
mile, we got sight of the Prairies. We first entered the long Prairie,
and crossed one corner of it; then passed a small strip of timber, and
then entered the English Prairie towards the east corner. Here we had a
fine view towards the south-west and north-west, and it was extremely
pleasant to see so much open land, with a few trees scattered over it.
As we advanced, we saw some men making hay for Mr. Flowers, of Albion;
the grass was coarse, and very ripe. We saw some large hay-ricks made
in the English manner. Mr. Flowers's {142} flock, of more than 200
hundred sheep, were feeding near the road. I went and looked at them;
they were poor and coarse, of different sorts, having been collected
from the several places, and on the whole an indifferent flock. We
saw the houses of Mr. Flowers and Mr. Birkbeck, and we entered the
enclosures of the latter, about a mile from his house. There was a good
deal of his land fenced in, but a piece of fallow, of upwards of 20
acres, was all I saw of cultivation. It was towards evening when we
reached Mr. Birkbeck's house; we met with a friendly reception from him
and his family; we supped with them, and slept at a cabin near.
Having arrived at the end of our journey, I have ceased to keep a
regular journal.
On reviewing a journey of this length, we find we have much to thank
the Almighty for, in conducting us in safety to the end of it, and in
preserving us in health through such changes of climate and difference
{143} of diet. As we did not leave England till the 9th of May, it
was late in the season for crossing the Atlantic ocean; our ship
sailed badly too, and the wind, as is usual in the summer, was from
the south and west; and thus it took us 58 days to reach Baltimore
from Cowes. Yet, with the exception of sea-sickness, we were all in
perfect health. At Baltimore, we remained 16 days; here most of us had
a slight bowel-complaint, but we left it perfectly recovered; yet at
Fell's Point, where we resided, a very malignant fever broke out while
we were there, or, at least, very shortly after we left it. In our
journey, of 16 days, from Baltimore to Wheeling, 280 miles, we met with
no accident of any kind, and our health continued equally good. In 38
days, from Wheeling to Shawneetown, 906 miles, we had no accident or
sickness of any kind, although, from Louisville to Shawneetown, we had
two very drunken and troublesome boatmen {144} to deal with. At the
latter place we staid seven days, and still continued well, though many
of the inhabitants were ill. Four days more took us to the Prairies,
where we had the satisfaction of arriving well, and of finding the
settlement was healthy, there being only two or three people unwell
with agues. In our journey, if we asked the road, we received the best
information in the power of the person of whom we inquired to give
us. The Custom-house officers, who did not neglect their duty, behaved
with great civility. Mr. Macgan, a native of Ireland, of whom we took
a house in Baltimore, behaved in a most friendly manner, as did his
wife also. The men who drove our waggons I have before spoken highly
of, but not more so than they deserved. The same is due to Mr. Ferris,
and his employer, Mr. Pemberton. The tavern-keepers were very civil,
but not so polite as in England, but I must not forget Mr. Dent and Mr.
Vannosdeln; {145} in short, we met with as good treatment as we should
in a tour through England; but the manners of the Americans are more
rough than those of Englishmen.
For several days I looked over the surrounding land with the intention
of purchasing some. I found there were several quarter-sections
belonging to the Congress, (as the public land is here called,) but
these quarters were not in very good situations; and I had the offer
of some entered land, some on which there were a few improvements,
and some in its natural state. The first I had offered was at Birks'
Prairie, four miles south-west of Wanborough. It belonged to Mr.
Jeremiah Birks, the first settler in that prairie, and named after
him.[137] Mr. Birks was from home, and his father-in-law, Hugh Collins,
Esq. showed me the land; there were upwards of twenty acres of Indian
corn, the rest all wood-land, except two or three acres of prairie; the
land rich, but rather wet. Mr. Collins, who lived near, also offered me
his land; it was a {146} quarter-section, that is, a hundred and sixty
acres. Fifteen or sixteen acres were fenced in, fifty acres prairie,
the rest wood-land; this land drier than the other, but not so well
timbered; that enclosed was partly wood-land and partly prairie, with
some dead trees on it. He also offered me his crop and stock, and
on the 30th of September I purchased it for nine hundred and forty
dollars--two hundred and eleven pounds ten shillings; he received seven
hundred of the dollars, and two hundred and forty were due at the
land-office. My purchase included on the land two cabins, a stable, a
well partly dug, nine acres of Indian corn, from which I had upwards
of four hundred bushels; more than three hundred bushels of pompions;
a small quantity of cotton; some shalots, and some small beans, much
like French beans.[138] The live stock consisted of three cows, three
calves, three sheep, upwards of thirty pigs, and a considerable deal of
poultry: I afterwards bought of him a heifer for four dollars.
[137] For a brief notice of Captain Birk, see Flower's _Letters from
the Illinois_, _ante_, note 57.--ED.
[138] Pompions are pumpkins; shalots are a kind of small onion.--ED.
{147} Mr. C. and my son arrived on the first of October with our
luggage, in three waggons, from the mouth of the Bonpas river, or
rather creek; for in a dry time it hardly runs, but in the winter it
is a tolerably large stream. By their account they had rather a rough
trip up the Wabash. The day they left Shawneetown they did not reach
the Wabash, but entered it the next day; the water was so low they
proceeded very slowly. The crew of the keel-boat were mostly Canadian
Frenchmen from Vincennes; they soon consumed their own provisions,
likewise those belonging to Mr. C. and my son; and as there were but
few habitations on the river banks, they were forced to land and
hunt for a living; they killed a few geese and some turkeys; these
they were obliged to eat without bread, but once they procured a few
potatoes at a cabin. In four or five days they reached Harmonie in
Indiana, and procured a fresh supply of provisions and some whiskey, of
which the crew made pretty free till it was {148} gone. Two days from
Harmonie took them to the Bonpas, and in two more they arrived at the
prairies, in health, and the luggage in good order. They described the
Frenchmen as much the same as those of Europe, merry, good-natured,
and thoughtless, enjoying the present moment, with but little thought
for to-morrow. They lived on their provisions till they were gone,
and then, in a manner perfectly good-natured, gave part of that they
procured in hunting to their companions.
On the second of October, there was a game of cricket played at
Wanborough by the young men of the settlement; this they called
keeping Catherine Hill fair,[139] many of the players being from the
neighbourhood of Godalming and Guildford, &c.
[139] A large pleasure-fair in the vicinity of Guildford,
Surrey.--WOODS.
On the third of October, I set out to walk to Shawneetown; I lost my
way in the course of the day, by taking the road to {149} Carmi,[140]
this road being marked the same as the other; and went about four miles
wrong before I discovered my mistake, but by inquiring I got directed
right. Before sunset I reached the house of Mr. Slocum, thirty-four
miles from Wanborough, where I slept. Very early in the morning I
reached the Little Wabash, and forded it below the mill, the water
nowhere higher than my knees. I arrived at Mr. Hobson's at two o'clock,
twenty-four miles from Mr. Slocum's. On the following morning I settled
with Mr. Collins, and also with the land-office, by paying up the
remainder of the money due on the land. As Mr. Sloo, the register of
the land-office, was from home, Mr. Collins was forced to sign the
transfer of the land to me before a justice, (here called an esquire,)
and also to get the county clerk's signature, and the county seal put
to it, signifying the magistrate is a regular one for that county. But
its being done before the register of the land-office saves all this
trouble and expense. I returned {150} to Newhaven to sleep. The next
morning I bought of my landlord a horse for seventy dollars; I applied
to a store for a saddle and bridle, but neither was to be procured; at
length the landlord found the bit of an old bridle, and we made a rein
with some tow; so I mounted and set forward. Towards evening it began
to rain very fast, and I stopped at the house of Mr. M., sixteen miles
from Wanborough. He was one of the first settlers in this part of the
country; he had lived nine or ten years in the Illinois; most part of
the time where he now resides; but he had been driven off three times
by the Indians. He was once shot through the thigh by a rifle-ball,
as he was in a house one evening with seven or eight others. One of
his companions was killed: the Indians fired through the holes between
the logs; they soon put out their light, and the Indians did not enter
the house, of which, he said, they were very glad, as they were not
well armed to receive them; having only three rifles and as {151} many
axes. The reason why so many of them were together was, they had sent
off their wives and children, and they were met to shell some corn to
take with them, intending to remove the next day. These back-woodsmen
have a strong dislike to the Indians, and having been brought up with
sentiments of antipathy towards them from their childhood, many of them
declare they should not mind shooting an Indian more than a wild cat
or racoon. Some of the back-woodsmen have been following the Indians
from the frontiers of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia,
through the States of Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois,
without being much more settled than the Indians themselves. Mr. M.
said, the Indians had not disturbed him for some years, and he did not
think he should go again to molest them.